After All This Time
by Evelit
Summary: Karin and Toshiro haven't seen each other for two years, when a recent surge in hollow activity brings Toshiro back to Karakura town, how will Karin react? Will she be angry with Toshiro? Will Toshiro avoid Karin? What will she do to get his attention? Who will be interfering to get these two together/tear them apart? Warning! Bad language, angst and lemons in later chapters
1. Two Worlds, One Sunset

After All This Time

Alright, so in this story a basic outline of the plot is that Karin and Toshiro haven't seen each other for two years, Karin is around 17 and Toshiro appears to be about 18-19ish. When a recent surge in hollow activity brings Toshiro (as well as other soul reapers) back to Karakura town, how will Karin react? Will she be angry with Toshiro? Will Toshiro avoid Karin? What will she do to get his attention? Who will be interfering to get these two together/ tear them apart? Warning! Future lemons and bad language. Also I plan to make this longish, so all you people out there who like an ongoing read, you've come to the right place!

I do not own any characters so far, other than Shinn (I feel so lame saying this, do I have to say it about all the trivial characters I just throw in? I'm pretty sure you guys know who I made up and who I didn't)

LET'S GET STARTED!

Karin;

Karin Kurosaki watched the sun set from the hill, thinking of how her life had gotten so messed up. Her brother Ichigo was spending more and more time in the soul society, and with her increasing spiritual power more and more hollows had been attacking lately. Despite the fact that she was getting lessons from Urahara and Yoruichi on how to defend herself, Karin still didn't want to risk putting Yuzu and her friends in danger.

This meant that recently Karin had begun isolating herself in hopes of protecting the people she cared about. She would usually walk around until she ended up in the same spot on the hill that she had seen Toshiro Hitsugaya so many times.

Staring off into the distance, she wondered if she'd ever see Toshiro ever again.

At this thought a dusting of pink flooded her cheeks. 'I shouldn't waste my time thinking about him!' she thought to herself rapidly, 'He hasn't even visited me in ages, I wouldn't be surprised if I never see him again.' But Karin knew that she would never let that happen, if it really came down to it she would travel to the soul society, even if it meant just seeing him from a distance.

Running a hand through her hair Karin sighed, she'd been so lost in thought earlier when she left for her walk she hadn't realized what kind of a state she was in. She was still wearing her tight-fitted school uniform and her usually long, silky black mane looked like a tangled mess of unruly waves. She wished she could cut it, but she'd lost a bet a few years ago and as result, had had to grow it out.

*~~~~Flashback~~~~*

As the crowd readied itself to watch the last soccer game of the season, Karin, captain of Karakura high's junior soccer team tried to distil some hope into her teammates.

"C'mon guys have a little faith! We've won before; this time won't be any different."

One of her sullen friends piped up, "Yeah but Karin, without his help there's no way we can beat these guys! We need Tosh-"

Karin, who was about to have a brain aneurism she was so mad, yelled, "SHUT UP! We can win just fine on our own, we don't need his help."

Just then they heard a voice shout from across the field, it was Shinn, captain of the opposing team.

"Hey Karin! I hope you know there's no way your team can win today, even if your ankle wasn't sprained, my team would still wipe the floor with yours." The cocky, big-mouthed soccer player yelled at Karin from across the field just moments before their game took place.

"Oh yeah! Why don't you come over here and say that to my face, you assh-" Karin spat back, her anger getting the better of her (as usual). Luckily her team was able to cover her mouth before she could finish her insult and barely escaped getting a penalty. Her friends murmured behind her, expressing their mutual worry and fear about their chances of winning, but Karin heard none of it.

As the time for the match began, Karin stalked carefully forward, there was no way she was letting the enemy see her limp, it was too demeaning.

The other school's ref, who was already eyeing Karin scornfully, partially due to her earlier outburst but more so because she was a female captain of an all-male soccer team, gave Karin a hard look.

"I don't want you causing any trouble here, okay princess?' He said in a sickly sweet voice to Karin.

Karin didn't say anything, this match was too important to her and to her school to be ruined by her foul mouth. Instead she gave him a fake smile and nodded, while thinking , 'If any one's going to be causing trouble, it'll be you, you sexist bastard!'

Karin glanced over at Yuzu, who was on the cheerleading team, they were already warmed up and ready to begin. Yuzu gave her a nod, and suddenly Karin felt a surge of confidence.

"Okay guys, listen up! We are going to win this and rub it in those guys' fu-… I mean bug ugly faces, you got that!" Karin yelled to her team. They nodded half-heartedly and made their agreements; they knew Karin would kick their asses if they didn't give this game their all.

The whistle blew, and the game began.

Less than halfway through the game, Shinn pulled an illegal move that had Karin face down in the dirt, her wounded ankle throbbing painfully. The ref saw this, but despite the crowd's outraged roar ignored it as he felt that a girl had no place on a boy's team and hoped that with a little manhandling she'd back down and go cheerlead.

Karin tried to stand but she quickly learned that it was impossible. Her teammates surrounded her and helped her limp off of the field.

Yuzu ran over, her face full of worry. "Karin! Are you alright!"

Karin couldn't answer her, as tears of anger and humiliation were threatening to spill. Just then Karin heard a familiar voice.

"Need a little help Kurosaki?"

Karin blanched, her head snapping towards the mystery figure.

"W-what are you doing here!" Karin yelled, "I thought you were in the soul society!"

"I was, but then I got sent over here on a mission and here I am." Toshiro's response retained its usual blasé tone, though he could see Karin was injured.

"Did one of those guys do that to you?" he said, his voice darkening a little bit.

"Yes, I mean no, I mean it was already bad before but the playing just made it worse…" her response was more than a little embarrassed.

"That mean guy right over there tripped Karin and the old ref didn't even do anything about it" Yuzu chirped passionately from Karin's right while pointing towards Shinn.

Toshiro regarded the figure of the boy in the distance, his impassive face masking his feelings of anger. "Is that so?" he breathed, "Well Karin I'll make you a deal. If you promise not to cut your hair for the next few years, I'll win this game for you…"

Karin looked at Toshiro incredulously, "What the hell does my hair have to do with anything?" she half yelled at him.

At her outburst Karin's teammates, who had been prematurely mourning the loss of their young lives, looked over. "TOSHIROOOOO! PLEASE HELP US WE NEED YOU! IF WE LOSE THIS GAME KARIN WILL MURDER US ALLLLLL!" Her friends wailed in hopeless harmony.

"How about it Kurosaki?" Toshiro's question was smug and she could see the confidence glinting in his turquoise eyes.

Karin gulped, hesitating only for a moment, "Fine." she answered.

*~~~~End of Flashback~~~~*

Once again, Toshiro saved their asses back there, and as result Karin was growing out her hair. At first she didn't mind, it served as a reminder of her childhood friend, but as she got older and the distance between them grew with Toshiro's absence, the memory of him only hurt Karin's feelings.

Many times both Yuzu and Orihime had offered to style Karin's hair, as it was now almost to her waist, but every time Karin had thanked them and declined. She preferred to keep it tied back in a ponytail most of the time, so that it wouldn't get in her face.

Karin sighed, finally breaking out of her funk, she needed to get home or her family would come looking for her. 'I'll be back tomorrow' she silently told the hillside.

Toshiro;

Toshiro Hitsugaya finished watching the sunset from his perch on the rooftop. He used to enjoy them as they reminded him of his time in Rukongai with Hinamori when they were younger. Nowadays they reminded him of someone else… Someone with black hair and eyes the colour of-

"Captain! There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!" Rengiku's cheerful voice interrupted his daydream, snapping his thoughts away from Karin Kurosaki.

Angry with himself for thinking of her, he snapped at Rengiku, "Yes what is it?"

Rengiku pouted, "I just received an order from a hell butterfly, there's been a recent surge of hollow activity in Karakura town, and we're needed there."

Toshiro sighed inwardly, he wasn't sure how he felt about this information.

Rengiku watched as a crease formed between her captain's eyebrows. "Ohhhh captain, I thought you'd be happy! Now you get to see your beloved girlfriend again, how long has it been anyway!"

Toshiro's eye twitched, he was so angry. "She. Is. Not. My. Girlfriend!" he bit out, "And it's been two years since I've been to Karakura town."

"Splendid! I'll bring my best sake! Karin'll be old enough to drink now, don't you think?" ignoring what he had just said, Rengiku was over the moon, her captain was going to see Karin Kurosaki and they were going to fall in love and get married! (whether they liked it or not).

Toshiro could see that his words had slid right off of his subordinate, and this time he made an audible sigh and turned to leave. So he was going to Karakura town… He wondered if Karin had stayed true to their deal? Probably not he mused, I mean it has been two years…

First Chapter Done! I really hope you liked it :s I can't believe how hard it was to write, sorry if I'm slow to get started but this is after all my first fanfic! Please please please review! Helpful criticism is welcome! Also I promise that in the next chapter there will be some HitsuKarin action, and I promise to get the angsty-romance on soon ! :) And if there's anything about my style you think i could improve, please tell me, thanks!


	2. A Bittersweet Reunion

A Bitter-sweet Reunion

A special thanks to **yuroxxie317! **Thanks so much for the encouragement, it meant a lot to me and really helped boost my confidence for writing this chapter :) A note for this chapter is that Karin and Yuzu no longer share rooms, if you want you can imagine that Karin has now moved into Ichigo's room (as he spends most of his time in the Soul Society anyway). I know i need to work on my P.O.V.s, but as i'm writing in third person it's kind of difficult, so really when I change the POV its kind of just me telling you who to think about when you read the next bit. Anyway hope you like it!

*I do not own any Bleach characters*

Karin;

The moonlight streaming into her room and the cool night air awoke Karin, she turned sleepily in her bed to see that she had in fact, left her window open. 'What?' she thought, 'I don't remember opening that.."

The voice came from the end of her bed, "It's been a long time, Kurosaki, I must say, I like your hair."

Karin's heart stuttered, and she had to fight the urge to spring up and tackle the intruder, just to make sure he was real. "What are you doing in here!" Karin exclaimed, her voice coming out a little higher-pitched than she would have liked.

"Is that how you greet a friend after a few years absence? Especially after I just gave you a compliment." Toshiro replied flippantly, his tone making Karin shiver.

Karin blushed in the darkness, grateful that her visitor couldn't see. "Yeah well, that absence is your own damn fault. And I've been growing it out ever since I made that bet a few years ago, to some little brat, in exchange for him helping me out with a soccer game." Karin spoke haughtily, trying to hide how stunned she was. "And I meant here as in, in the real world." She added, hoping to clarify her earlier question.

The chuckle that she received reverberated through her bones. "You haven't changed a bit, even if you do look different."

Karin swallowed, "Different in a good way?" she tried to sound unconcerned, hoping to make him believe she didn't really care what his reply was. "Besides, it's hardly fair that you get to see me, you're hidden in shadow and I can't make anything out besides your general direction."

She sensed more than heard Toshiro as he shifted his weight uncomfortably, "I shouldn't even be here, so why don't we just leave it to your imagina-"

Toshiro's words were abruptly cut off when Karin crawled swiftly across her bed, towards the sound of Toshiro's voice and grabbed him. She pulled him onto her bed and into the moonlight. She could now see how Toshiro had changed, from his bulkier, taller body to his more sophisticated haircut.

Toshiro was so surprised by Karin's actions; he could only lie there, stupefied.

Karin, who by now had gone completely red, tried to formulate a worthy reason. She finally opted to just go with the truth. "There's no way I'm letting you leave until you fill me in on why you're here! Besides, you show up after two years and just expect me to be okay with it! You ditched me Toshiro, I thought we were friends." Even to her own ears, Karin sounded hurt and vulnerable.

Toshiro;

Toshiro stared into Karin's obsidian black eyes and wondered how he'd ever been able to stay away. One look into them and it was enough to turn him into a gibbering, mindless mess.

He pushed himself into a sitting position and tried to formulate a response that would put her mind at ease while allowing him to make his escape.

He searched for somewhere else to look, but as there was nothing easily visible to focus his attention on, he looked at Karin's body.

What a bad idea that turned out to be, Toshiro had noticed before that Karin had grown up quite a bit since their last meeting, but only now could he fully appreciate the extent of her beauty.

Her long black hair was wild from sleeping and looked so touchable he had to resist the temptation to run his hands through it. Her long slender legs were crossed beneath her, and as she was only wearing boxer shorts his eyes travelled to the joint between his legs.

Toshiro gulped, man he had to get his shit together, this was Karin for god's sake! He continued to gradually climb her body using his eyes, and nearly lost control when he saw that she wasn't wearing a bra underneath her red spaghetti-strap tank top. As her breasts pushed defiantly against the thin material, a bead of sweat dripped down Toshiro's face.

"Well? I'm waiting.." Karin's annoyed tone snapped Toshiro's thought's away from her body, and all the things he'd like to do with it.

"Ughh, well you see… There's been a recent up rise in hollow activity here in Karakura town and myself as well as many other Shinigami have been sent here to take care of any problems that may arise as result of that." Toshiro sputtered out. 'See that wasn't so hard was it?' he thought to himself.

He could tell that his response disappointed Karin, though she hid it well. He tried to think of a way to smooth things over between them. He couldn't exactly tell her that the reason he'd stayed away for so long was because he didn't trust himself to be around her, that he didn't want to form a relationship with her because he dreaded the repercussions. He was captain of squad 10, and as such he had a reputation to maintain and he didn't have time to visit a human girl in the real world.

This had become his mantra over the past two years; he'd even begun to almost believe all of it.

Toshiro sighed, "Look Karin, I apologize if my absence hurt your feelings, that was never my intention. I realize now that even though I couldn't have visited you, I should have sent word through your brother. I hope you can forgive me?"

Toshiro looked deeply into Karin's eyes and hoped that he was achieving the 'smoldering' look Rengiku said he had mastered over the years.

A few seconds passed, and the silence continued to stretch between them. Karin bit her lip, drawing Toshiro's attention to her mouth. Even in the faint light he could tell that her lips were full and a rosy-red colour, begging to be kissed.

'Of course Karin will be the one girl in the world that this look doesn't work on.' He thought frustratedly, 'Come on Hitsugaya think!'

As Karin opened her mouth, an irritated look beginning to form on her beautiful face, Toshiro realized what he had to do.

On the bed they were sitting so that their knees were practically touching, making it easy for Toshiro to reach out and thread his hands into Karin's soft hair. He then brought his lips crashing down onto hers, which prompted Karin to let out a muffled squeak of surprise.

Karin;

At first Karin was motionless against his lips, but she soon relaxed and kissed him back. One of her hands then wound itself into Toshiro's soft, down-like hair, while the other reached out to grip his shirt, exploring the muscles that lay underneath.

Untangling one of his hands Toshiro placed it at the small of Karin's back and closed what little space was left between them. Karin then pulled Toshiro forwards, on top of her so that they were now lying on her bed.

Toshiro ground himself against Karin, glad that she wasn't wearing more covering clothes. She parted her legs, granting him easier access.

Karin nipped Toshiro's lip and he opened his mouth, allowing her tongue to explore. They lay like this for a while, making out heavily, grinding and groping until the heat between them became unbearable.

Toshiro's shirt had long been discarded and his hand was beginning to travel underneath the front of Karin's shirt. Just before he reached her breast they were interrupted by a piercing noise from Toshiro's pocket.

They were both so startled that it took them a while to react.

"What the-" Karin said as she reached into Toshiro's pocket, smugly noticing that he was indeed, happy to be there. She pulled out his denreishinki (soul phone) and upon realization, handed it over quickly to Toshiro.

Toshiro snapped the phone open and studied the coordinates of the hollow. "I'm sorry Karin but I have to go." He said without emotion.

Karin was curious as to why she hadn't sensed this particular hollow sooner, "Can't I go with you? I'm sure I could help." Besides that, she also just didn't want to be parted from Toshiro so soon.

"That won't be necessary, I've overstayed my welcome anyway. Goodnight Kurosaki." Toshiro continued to speak in that bland, if a little icy tone.

Karin flinched at Toshiro's formality, especially after what had just taken place between them. They'd nearly had sex for Christ's sake!

She watched as Toshiro grabbed his shirt made his way towards the window. "Toshiro! Wait! When will I see you ag-" Before she could finish her question, Toshiro had already leapt outside, leaving a cold chill to her bedroom.

"Again.." Karin finished, a single tear sliding down her cheek. She felt so used, but above that, she was utterly confused by his actions.

Unable to fall back asleep, Karin lied in her bed until morning, bitter sweetly re-living what had just transpired in her bedroom.

So how was it! PLEASE review, i want to improve, so if you guys think i need more Bleach terminology or that my almost-lemon wasn't lemony enough (I'm getting there, bare with me) drop me some helpful reviews, i would seriously love to hear from you guys :) And if you think im making Karin and Toshiro act out of character let me know! I'm doing my best to envision them, haha but it's a little difficult! Anyway, I'm looking forward to hearing from you! Thanks for reading


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